A Transfer Student Gets Her First-Choice School the Second Time Around

When Madison graduated high school, she had a modest transcript and modest test scores, not to mention a burning desire to go to a medium-sized school in a city. Madison wanted a sophisticated, urban environment, and the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL was her first choice. With a 1080 on the Critical Reading and Math sections of the SAT, UM was a big reach (she did give it a try, but wasn’t admitted as a freshman). Instead, she headed to New York City, where she enrolled at Marymount Manhattan College.

Expert Admissions did not work with Madison while she was in high school, but when she came to us at the beginning of her sophomore year of college with the hope of transferring to her dream school, we wanted to make sure she had the best chances of getting in. Expert Admissions helped Madison select her fall sophomore courses, and provided guidance on some extracurricular involvements. Because Madison did not want to return to Marymount Manhattan, she needed additional schools – besides University of Miami. After reviewing several options and paying particular attention to the business/marketing offerings with her counselor, Madison added some other schools to her list, with UM still reigning as her top choice.

Expert Admissions and Madison worked to craft a personal statement that clearly explained what wasn’t working at Marymount Manhattan and what she was seeking at her new school. Together with her counselor, they worked on separate statement that explained a few of Madison’s grades (her cumulative GPA was just barely a 3.0) and the absence of certain classes on her college transcript.

With a little confidence and a lot of hard work, Madison was admitted to the University of Miami as a transfer student for the spring. Ecstatic, she sent in her enrollment forms before hearing from the other schools.